page_title: Earth structure
section_title: Earthworks
hierarchical_section_title: Earth structure / Examples / Earthworks
caption_attribution_description: English: Retaining wall, Ramsden Wood Road
context_page_description: An earth structure is a building or other structure made largely from soil. Since soil is a widely available material, it has been used in construction since prehistoric times.
  It may be combined with other materials, compressed and/or baked to add strength.
  Soil is still an economical material for many applications, and may have low environmental impact both during and after construction.
  Earth structure materials may be as simple as mud, or mud mixed with straw to make cob. Sturdy dwellings may be also built from sod or turf. Soil may be stabilized by the addition of lime or cement, and may be compacted into rammed earth. Construction is faster with pre-formed adobe or mudbricks, compressed earth blocks, earthbags or fired clay bricks.
  Types of earth structure include earth shelters, where a dwelling is wholly or partly embedded in the ground or encased in soil. Native American earth lodges are examples. Wattle and daub houses use a "wattle" of poles interwoven with sticks to provide stability for mud walls. Sod houses were built on the northwest coast of Europe, and later by European settlers on the North American prairies.
context_section_description: Earthworks are engineering works created through moving or processing quantities of soil or unformed rock. 
  The material may be moved to another location and formed into a desired shape for a purpose.Levees, embankments and dams are types of earthwork.
  A levee, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated natural ridge or artificially constructed dirt fill wall that regulates water levels. It is usually earthen and often runs parallel to the course of a river in its floodplain or along low-lying coastlines.
  Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls may be used for embankments.
  MSE walls combine a concrete leveling pad, wall facing panels, coping, soil reinforcement and select backfill.
  A variety of designs of wall facing panels may be used.
  After the leveling pad has been laid and the first row of panels has been placed and braced, the first layer of earth backfill is brought in behind the wall and compacted.
  The first set of reinforcements is then laid over the earth.
  The reinforcements, which may be tensioned polymer or galvanized metal strips or grids, are attached to the facing panels.
  This process is repeated with successive layers of panels, earth and reinforcements.
  The panels are thus tied into the earth embankment to make a stable structure with balanced stresses.
  Although construction using the basic principles of MSE has a long history, MSE was developed in its current form in the 1960s. The reinforcing elements used can vary but include steel and geosynthetics. The term MSE is usually used in the US to distinguish it from "Reinforced Earth", a trade name of the Reinforced Earth Company, but elsewhere Reinforced Soil is the generally accepted term. MSE construction is relatively fast and inexpensive, and although labor-intensive, it does not demand high levels of skill. It is therefore suitable for developing as well as developed countries.
caption: Retaining wall near Todmorden, West Yorkshire, England
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